Lebanon News and World News Live from Beirut

Salameh Agrees to represent Syrian regime against Hariri

Lebanese Rashad Salameh agreed on Thursday to represent The Syrian regime of President Bashar Al Assad in the lawsuit against former Lebanon PM Saad Hariri, Future Movement MP Okab Sakr, and Free Syrian Army media coordinator Louay al-Meqdad, according to a report by the Central News Agency ( CNA) .

Salameh has reportedly started preparing the case and will soon present it to the concerned judicial authorities.

Interpol rejected arrest warrants

The Interpol rejected the Syrian arrest warrants against Hariri, Saqr and Meqdad in line with its constitution and rules, according to a report by al-Mustaqbal newspaper.

Interpol reportedly sent a memo to its offices in the Arab countries in which the organization said it has decided not to keep the arrest warrants in its database and will not cooperate with them based on its regulations as “it is strictly forbidden for the organization to undertake any intervention or activities of political, military, religious or racial character.”

Interpol pointed out that the request doesn’t comply with its regulations based on “the nature of the charges, the status of the wanted individuals and the current situation in Syria.”

medal of honor

Sakr described Wednesday the Syrian arrest warrants as a “medal of honor”.

Hariri on the other hand described Wednesday Syrian President Bashar Assad as a “monster” .

Pro Syrian media in Lebanon like the Al Akhbar newspaper and OTV newspaper recently leaked recordings of conversation between MP Sakr and Free Syrian Army official al-Meqdad to prove his involvement in arming of the Syrian opposition.

Sakr said on Tuesday that the arrest warrants prove that the Assad regime “forged the recordings.”

Last weekend Sakr accused OTV and al-Akhbar of tampering with the audiotapes and saying that he will file a lawsuit against them.

The sources said that the lawyer will not make any statement on the matter at the moment, despite the flow of requests for media appearances, adding that he will await permission from the lawyers syndicate to do so.

Legal sources explained that Salameh’s case or that of the General Prosecution in Lebanon will, should they succeed, ultimately lead to lifting the immunity off the lawmakers found to involved in arming the Syrian revolt.

The decision of lifting immunity will be decided by parliament, reported the Central News Agency.

OTV and al-Akhbar newspaper recently revealed that Saqr had been carrying out arms deals with Syrian opposition members, with the television station airing leaked recordings of conversations between the lawmaker and Meqdad.

He previously accused OTV and al-Akhbar of tampering with the audiotapes, adding that he will file a lawsuit against them.

Damascus’ First Attorney-General Mohammed Marwan al-Loji stated on Wednesday: “Failure to bring Hariri, Saqr, and Meqdad to justice is a violation of international law.”

“They are involved in crimes of terrorism and therefore considered to be terrorists who can be captured by international criminal law,” he told SANA.